MLB 2020 Season

[Joker]

With pitchers and catchers reporting to camps today, it's officially the start of the 2020 Season!!

The Long Dark is over.

[babyblob]

I am so excited for this season. I love baseball more then football. my mom and I watch the Reds together and it really brings us closer. The Reds made some off season moves this year. Dont know if it will be enough to get them over the hump but they are trying. it is good to see a Cincinnati team try after years of watching The Bengals half ass it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I’m 61, and baseball has always been my first sports love, so yeah, I’m ready for the new season. My Phillies has pitchers and catchers report yesterday with a new manager (Joe Girardi), a pricey free agent acquisition (Zack Wheeler) and a full preseason for Bryce Harper as position players report over the weekend. Can’t wait for baseball!

[Styles]

What do y'all think about the Astros apology?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

What do y'all think about the Astros apology?

I thought it was lame and contrived, like players were sorry for having been caught rather than for having cheated to win. That’s my opinion.

[babyblob]

What do y'all think about the Astros apology?

I love how the owner said that their cheating didnt effect the outcomes of any games. WTF!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Astros fans who follow the team on road trips would be advised to leave their hats, jerseys and related paraphernalia home this season, otherwise they could face hostile crowds in other ballparks.

[Theleviathan]

What do y'all think about the Astros apology?

The most incompetent attempt at a press conference I can every recall. Utter disaster.

I'm a die hard baseball fan, but the sport has already died. We're going to watch it try to gasp back to life but it won't be long before it's national prominence is completely gone. Probably in our lifetimes. A scandal like this generated some attention, but not even all that much outrage among fans. That's not a terribly good sign.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The most incompetent attempt at a press conference I can every recall. Utter disaster.

I'm a die hard baseball fan, but the sport has already died. We're going to watch it try to gasp back to life but it won't be long before it's national prominence is completely gone. Probably in our lifetimes. A scandal like this generated some attention, but not even all that much outrage among fans. That's not a terribly good sign.

People said baseball died after a work stoppage cancelled the 1994 World Series. People say baseball died at the height of the steroid scandal in the early 2010's. People have been throwing dirt on baseball's grave for the longest time, but, like Dracula, the sport refuses to die, and since it's my very first sports love, I'm happy for that. While football is top dog in terms of popularity, baseball is number one in my book, and the Cheatstros scandal won't diminish that love.

[Javasaurus]

Astros fans who follow the team on road trips would be advised to leave their hats, jerseys and related paraphernalia home this season, otherwise they could face hostile crowds in other ballparks.

I can tell you first hand that there are a good number of Astros fans that feel lied to and sucker punched as a result of the cheating revelations. I've yet to meet anyone who just shrugs it off.

Remember that the Astros won that World Series just a few months after the city of Houston got hammered by Hurricane Harvey. Many communities were still in recovery at that point; some are still trying. That so-called victory served up a city-wide jolt of hope. Now it all feels like a lie.

You advise Astros fans to leave their hats and jerseys at home. Mine already went in the trash.

[Beantownbrown]

They should have been made to vacate the title; return the trophy and rings.

[Joker]

The apologies have been awful, but that's to be expected.
Manfred's statement was awful, but that's to be expected.

Really, it's the other players comments that I've been interested in.

[MRP]

While I do not condone what the Astros did, for me it is simply the culmination of the path baseball has been on for the last decade or so in the sabremetric era. Sabremetrics has taught teams the way to succeed is to analyze video/game occurrences as quickly as possible and use them to give the players and coaches on your team even the slightest advantage as quickly as possible (sometimes even making in at-bat adjustments based on data from the last at-bat). Combine it with the long tradition of acceptable sign stealing by any means short of cameras in baseball and relaying that info to batters during the at bat via men on base or base coaches, and what the Astros did was the logical next step to fulfill the goals of those movements. They simply found a way to do it in real time.

Did the Astros cross a line? Most certainly. But MLB has had their toes over that line for a decade now. If your entire sport has been about analyzing info using video of games as soon as it is available to create advantages (some hitters and pitchers go in after an inning and watch video of the at bats from that inning to plan for the next at bat against that hitter or pitcher and are praised for their diligence, hard work and dedication o preparation), from shifts, to outfield positioning to recognizing release points of opposing pitchers to identify pitches, etc. and has been for over 10 years, how does everyone go ballistic when a team finds a way to do that better and not be hypocritical?

So stealing sings has been an acceptable part of baseball for forever and those that have done it well have been praised and rewarded.

Using video to get even the minutest advantage in game is acceptable and those that do it well are praised and rewarded.

But combining the two is the most heinous thing baseball has ever seen? I just find it funny what people determine to be the bridge too far.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Was Astrogate worse than the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal? I’d say no.

Was it worse than the work stoppage that killed the 1994 World Series? I’d say no.

Was it worse than the PED clusterfuck from the early 2010’s I’d say no.

Still, the Houston cheating mess will leave a stain on the game.

[Theleviathan]

People said baseball died after a work stoppage cancelled the 1994 World Series. People say baseball died at the height of the steroid scandal in the early 2010's. People have been throwing dirt on baseball's grave for the longest time, but, like Dracula, the sport refuses to die, and since it's my very first sports love, I'm happy for that. While football is top dog in terms of popularity, baseball is number one in my book, and the Cheatstros scandal won't diminish that love.

The underlying problems are there. Most of baseball's audience are old white guys. Nobody knows their players. Attendance is a concern.

The sport has proved resilient but things like all your fans being dead in 20 years and no replacements are hard things to recover from. I work with kids and, anecdotal I know, but they dont care about baseball at all.